Battle of Hardale
The Battle of Hardale was a battle fought in 1159 in the town of Hardale within the Barony of Lurinlund. Background In the summer of 1159 a huge army of undead and Galmarian warriors from the Rockwater Tribe all under the command of a figure known as Mingolf the Soulcrusher were marching towards the northeastern border of the Kingdom of Emeron, where the Barony of Lurinlund met with the Plains of Galmar. A force of Baronial soldiers under the command of Lurinlund's marshal, Sir Valin Taire, was dispatched to attack them en route while still on the Plains of Galmar in what came to be known as the First Battle of Undying Rage. The battle took place on the 17th of Lion and was a total loss, resulting in the death of Sir Valin and a large amount of his army. Those losses were raised as undead to bolster Mingolf's Army Sir Winston Templeton rallied Sir Valin's army and, with the forces of Hardale and Fulton added, marched east again, fighting the Second Battle of Undying Rage on the 24th of Lion. This too was a loss with nearly half the army being slain (including Sir Winston) and the dead again being raised as more undead. The survivors of the army fell back to Hardale. Pre-Battle The Joined of Vesper connected with the army on it's return march to Hardale and Edella Montfort, the adopted niece of Sir Winston Templeton, assumed command and the rank of Acting General. Their first step was to secure Hardale, which was in chaos due to the murder of Mayor Morda Amburgeor in an effort by an enemy spy to sow discord between the town's human and dwarven populations. The Joined of Vesper revealed the deception and secured the alliance of Ambassador Throt Goldaxe and a force of 100 soldiers and 200 dwarvish citizen volunteers for the battle. The defenders had mere days to prepare and rallied every man, woman and child capable of holding a weapon to prepare for battle. They dug a variety of trenches and filled them with pitch, sealed the Farm Gate and arranged traps over the other two gates to the town and a kill zone maze leading to Hospitality Square. It was hoped that these efforts would prove effective against the undead army, most of which would be mindless zombies and skeletons. The Troops Hardale's defenders consisted of only 166 Baronial Soldiers, 50 Baronial Calvary and 498 Lurinlund Conscripts from Sir Valin's original army that had survived both of the Battles of Undying Rage. Of the remains of Sir Winston's army there was approximately 500 conscripts from Fulton and 500 from Hardale. Hardale had 120 town guardsmen, who General Montfort also pressed into service. The addition of every man, woman and child aged 12-70 who could stand and hold a spear, added an additional 1,000 troops, though their combat training was non existent. Two days before the battle began, however, a force of 100 men from the Order of the Fadalithis arrived to offer their aid in destroying the undead. This was all in addition to the 100 dwarven soldiers and 200 dwarven citizens who volunteered to fight as well. The enemy had a force of 2,000 Zombies, 2,000 skeletons, 500 ghouls 400 Galmarian Footmen and 100 Galmarian Horsemen at their disposal. The Battle On the 16th of Dragon, 1159, Mingolf arrived with his top lieutenants, Soldrol the Heartbreaker and a death knight known as General Lizmont, under a flag of parlay. General Edella Montfort parlayed with them, and they presented her with the zombified corpse of Sir Valin Taire, the severed head of Sir Winston Templeton (Edella's adoptive uncle) and revealed that General Lizmont had been her mother, Elizabeth Montfort, before being raised as a death knight by Mingolf. Mingolf demanded that the Joined of Vesper submit themselves for execution and that the citizens of Hardale submit to his rule unconditionally or he would attack the town and wipe them out. General Montfort categorically refused and at sunrise the following day the battle began. Opening Positions Mingolf ordered Soldrol the Heartbreaker to take his Galmarian Footmen and Cavalry to the western portion of the city to attack the Farm Gate. A force of 100 Footmen had already sneaked north of the city and taken position in the pass into the Dwarven Mountains to slaughter any citizens who tried to flee the town to the safety of the Thorgain Kingdom. General Lizmont attacked the southern portion of the city, seeking to break the Trade Gate while Mingolf Himself would lead the zombies against the east wall. The ghouls were scattered throughout the ranks of undead to keep the mindless beings pointed in the right direction. Mingolf had no siege weapons, but was confident that Hardale's defenders would fall and the gates collapse under the full weight of and all out undead assault. Before his death Mayor Morda Amburgeor had commissioned every bowyer in Hardale to churn out as many bows and slings as possible. General Montfort equipped the Lurinlund Conscripts with what bows could be made in time and positioned them on the east wall under the command of Jadda Atasie. She positioned the Hardale Conscripts along the west wall and equipped them with the slings. Along the south wall she ordered the Hardale Town guard under the command of Sister Devina Arveniad, as the captain of the guard had been murdered with Mayor Amburgeor. The 1,000 elderly and children were positioned within the city under the command of local sorcerer Baram Vallerad to take advantage of the kill zone set up in and around Hospitality Square in case the Trade Gate was breached. Outside the City Edella ordered Delilah Farmeski to position the Baronial Soldiers in the foothills of the Dwarven Mountains west of the town to attack Soldrol the Heartbreaker's Galmarians when the battle began. They were joined by the remaining Baronial Calvary under the command of Beybulat Tasho. On the eastern portion of the city Edella would personally lead the Fulton conscripts to attack Mingolf's zombie army, and they would be joined by the Order of the Fadalithis under the command of their leader Seltrini. Last, but certainly not least, were the dwarves. Ambassador Throt Goldaxe and Sister Thargbella Coalfire would lead their forces in a pre-dawn raid out the Mountain Gate to attack the 100 Galmarians who had taken position in the mountain pass. Once they were slain, the dwarves were to act as they saw fit by moving through the hills to join either Edella's force or Delilah and Baybulat's. The Battle Begins The battle began when the 100 dwarf soldiers under Ambassador Goldaxe and 200 volunteers under Sister Thargbella attacked the Galmarian force to the north, catching them completely by surprise and destroying their number easily. The dwarves then marched west to assist the Lurinlund Footmen and Cavalry. With the missile support from the Hardale Conscripts' slingers they made short work of Soldrol's Galmarian footmen and horsemen, cutting the barbarians off and crushing them. The fight did not start as promising for the defenders on the other fronts. On the east wall Mingolf's force rushed the east wall, and Mingolf himself used his magic to create a breech in the wall, allowing his zombies to swarm into the town. The Lurinlund Conscripts, already demoralized by two devastating losses, were quickly routed and most of the unit was slain, including Jadda Atasie. Meanwhile on the South wall General Lizmont's skeletons were slowed by the burning trenches and barricades erected but eventually they reached the walls and began to scale them. Once they did the Hardale Guardsmen were quickly overwhelmed and slaughtered. A bit of bravery by Ron Cunningham, one of the only survivors of the men stationed on the south wall, resulted in a rock trap on the gate burying General Lizmont and temporarily taking her out of the fight. Still, Baram Vallerad's force of elderly and children began to take the brunt of the skeleton attack, and while the kill zone was effective the lack of training of Vallerad's force was leading to many casualties and the kill zone quickly being breached. Edella Montfort's plan had called for the 600 men between her and Seltrini's forces to hold off on attacking Mingolf unless necessary to buy time for the combatants on the west wall to succeed and could reinforce them, but the rout of the Lurinlund Conscripts and the breech in the wall ruined that plan's chance of success. Their best chance now was to engage and hope they could hold long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Montfort ordered a charge and her forces smashed into Mingolf's zombie army as they streamed into the city. The Order of the Fadalithis especially slew so many zombies in such a short amount of time that Mingolf had no choice but to redirect his horde to focus on them and the Fulton conscripts. Sweeping East Fortunately for the defenders, because Soldrol's force of Galmarians on the west wall were slain so fast, the Hardale Conscripts, Lurinlund footmen and Cavalary, and dwarven forces were able to sweep east into the town quickly. Again supported by the Hardale Conscripts missile fire from the walls, the Dwarves smashed into the skeleton army, catching them in a pincer with Vallerad's forces. It was not long before the skeletons were destroyed. Meanwhile the Baronial Soldiers and Cavalry rode to the east wall. The Fulton Conscripts and the Order of the Fadalithis had prevented Mingolf's forces from entering the city, but they had paid for it. The Order's forces were essentially wiped out quickly and the Fulton forces were taking casualties fast. Delilah Farmeski ordered her men to take up the bows of the fallen Lurinlund Conscripts and man the walls to provide missile support while Beybulat Tasho led a charge into the zombie army. Mingolf managed to raise the fallen Lurinlund Conscripts as a small army under his control, but fortunately by this time the dwarven forces had finished off the skeletal army and smashed into this new force of undead, making short work of it. The dwarves then poured from the breech Mingolf had created, to join the fighting against the zombie horde, and they were the final turning of the tide. The Fulton Conscripts and Lurinlund Cavalry had taken extremely heavy casualties but with the reinforcement of the dwarves the zombies were finally destroyed. As the zombies were being defeated Edella Montfort and most of the Joined of Vesper personally engaged Mingolf, slaying him. He was joined by General Lizmont, escaped from the rock trap little worse for wear, but in the end she too was defeated struck down by her own daughter. Aftermath In the aftermath of the battle the Joined of Vesper were hailed as heroes of Hardale. Edella Montfort, a Paladin of the sun god Vesper, had led the battle clad in black dragonscale armor and fought the thing that had been her mother while mourning the death of Winston Templeton, the man who raised her. As a result the commoners quickly began calling her the Mourning Sun. The assistance of the dwarves proved to be pivotal to the battle, with Ambassador Goldaxe and Mother Thargbella proving to be instrumental to the defeat of all three of the enemy armies. Though both humans and dwarves fought, the esteem of the dwarves certainly rose among the people of Hardale. General Montfort openly stated her belief that without them the day would have been lost. The following day a force of 600 fighting men from Yadfim arrived under the command of Dame Ellel Gialiadin, though her brother and the heir to Yadfim, Arocan Gialiadin III, took command of the force upon it's arrival. The Joined of Vesper departed from Hardale a few days later, leaving Lord Arocan to command the recovery of the town. Category:Emeron Category:Battles